How to play Footbauction

Setting up a lobby

One player hosts. Everyone else joins with a code.

The host creates a lobby and chooses three settings, which apply to everyone in the room and can still be changed from the lobby screen before the game starts:

• Player pool. A global pool of players, or a pool restricted to a single competition.
• Players era. Current players, or All-time, which also includes retired players.
• Game mode. Classic or Blind. The difference is explained below.

Creating a lobby produces a five-character code. Share the code itself, or copy the invite link, which fills the code in for whoever opens it. A lobby holds 2 to 10 managers, and the auction cannot start with fewer than two.

Each manager enters a name and is given a team color, which you can change from the lobby until the game starts. No two teams in the same lobby can share a color — it is how you tell squads apart later, during the matches. Managers then mark themselves ready, and the host starts formation selection.

The auction

Every manager starts with 100 credits. There is no way to earn more.

Players are auctioned one at a time, and the auction moves through the positions in a fixed order: goalkeepers first, then defenders, then midfielders, then forwards. If any squad is still short of a position once the forwards are done, the auction reopens that position and keeps going until every squad is complete. Each player card opens a 10-second clock. Every new bid resets that clock back to 10 seconds, so a contested player can run well past the first countdown.

Use a quick-bid button or enter a custom addition to raise the current bid. A custom value is an increase, not the final price: adding 5 to a current bid of 12 offers 17 credits. Two limits apply while a card is live:

• You cannot bid when you are already the highest bidder.
• You cannot drop out while you are the highest bidder — dropping out is how you leave a fight, not how you cancel a bid.

When everyone else has dropped out or is no longer eligible, the player is sold to the leading bidder and the credits leave that manager's balance immediately.

Once a player has been offered, he never comes back — sold or unsold, he is gone for the rest of that auction. Players with more than one listed role are hybrids: they may be offered in any category they qualify for, so a wing-back can turn up in the defender phase and a wide forward in the forward phase.

As soon as you have filled your quota for the position being auctioned, you stop bidding on it and simply watch until the auction moves on.

Budget rules

You cannot spend your way into an incomplete squad.

Every manager must finish with exactly 11 players, so the game reserves 1 credit for every slot you still have to fill. Your maximum bid is whatever is left after that reserve.

With an empty squad and 100 credits, winning a player leaves 10 slots open, so 10 credits are held back and your maximum first bid is 90. The reserve shrinks as your squad fills, and on your eleventh and final player you can spend everything you have left.

The game also handles these budget and eligibility situations:

• Your balance equals your number of empty slots. The game can open the card with a 1-credit bid assigned to a manager at that reserve. Other eligible managers can still outbid it. Priority resolves ties between qualifying managers.
• You are the last manager who needs that position. With nobody left to bid against, the player is assigned to you for 1 credit — or for nothing, if you have no credits left.
• Every eligible manager has run out of credits. The player is assigned for free to whoever has the fewest players so far.

This is why the endgame matters as much as the opening. Spend everything early and you will be handed whoever is left; hoard too long and you will pay 1 credit a time for cards nobody wanted.

Building your XI

Buy eleven players, then choose the shape that fits them.

Before the auction, each manager chooses 4-3-3, 5-3-2, 5-4-1, 4-4-2, 4-2-4 or 3-4-2-1. Your formation sets your auction quota: for example, 4-3-3 needs 1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards, while 5-3-2 needs 1 goalkeeper, 5 defenders, 3 midfielders and 2 forwards. Every formation uses eleven players. Once the auction is over, you can arrange those players in your starting XI. Here is the default 4-3-3:

You have up to 60 seconds to edit your lineup. Tap two players to swap them, or drag them on desktop. Choose a Balanced, Counter or Aggressive tactic before confirming readiness. Confirming locks your choices. When everyone is ready, or time runs out, a separate review phase lasts up to 45 seconds before the league begins.

Classic and Blind

The same rules. A very different auction.

Team overall is different from an individual player rating. In Blind mode, the host can choose to show team overall during lineup editing and review. Team overall is visible during the league, final and results. This never reveals each player's individual rating.

How matches are simulated

Overall is the summary. Individual attributes drive the football.

The engine does not decide a match by comparing two overall ratings. Every player has a profile of individual skills, and the attributes that matter change with the moment: creating a chance, completing a pass, winning a duel, stopping a shot or defending space.

Profiles are specific to the selected competition. The same player can therefore have different ratings and attributes for different leagues or World Cups, reflecting that version of the player rather than one universal career card.

The tournament

Nobody plays the matches. The squads do.

Once every lineup is in, the lobby plays a double round-robin league: every manager meets every other manager twice, home and away. The live animation follows the match events produced by the simulation. A stronger team has better odds, not a guaranteed result; this is a game, not a prediction of real football.

• 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.
• The table is ranked by points, then goal difference, then goals scored.
• With 2–5 managers, the top two reach the final.
• With 6 or more managers, the top four advance: 1st plays 4th and 2nd plays 3rd, followed by a third-place match and the final.

Knockout matches that finish level are decided on penalties. The winner takes the tournament, and the final screen shows the standings, top performers and winning squad.

Practice your auction budget

Try a decision before inviting your friends.

Suppose you have bought four players and have 67 credits left. You still need seven players. Winning the next card leaves six slots, so your maximum total bid is 67 − 6 = 61 credits. That is a legal ceiling, not a recommended price: spending 61 leaves only one credit for each remaining player.

A 20-credit purchase instead leaves 47 credits for six players. You keep 6 for the reserve and 41 to compete above those minimum prices. Before raising a bid, count the roles you still need and compare your balance with the managers competing for those same roles.

When everyone passes: with four slots still empty and 5 credits left, one unsold eligible card costs 1 credit, leaving 4. Further no-bid fees stop at that reserve. On a later eligible card you may receive the opening 1-credit bid, which another manager can beat.

When only you need the position: there is no bidding competition. The next player is assigned for 1 credit, or free if your balance is zero. Waiting for this point gives up the ability to choose between players through competitive bidding.

Ratings and strategy

A famous name, a high rating and a good fit are three different things.

Footbauction's ratings are subjective game assessments. All-time competition ratings aim to reflect a player's best sustained level in that competition, with longevity and context also considered. They are not official statistics or ratings copied from another football game. A player's World Cup assessment can differ from his league assessment. Read more about the project and data on the about page.

The game spreads parts of the rating scale to make differences matter in the auction. Team overall then combines positional groups, standout players, weak starters and balance between units; it is not a simple average. A stronger forward does not automatically compensate for several weak defenders.

Build around the players you actually bought

Your formation sets your auction quota as well as your lineup shape. A 5-3-2 gives you five defenders and two forwards; a 4-2-4 gives you four forwards and only two midfielders. Check each player's natural roles and effective rating in the lineup. A 4-2-4 adds attacking emphasis but weakens defensive balance in the simulation; more forwards is not automatically better.

Choose a tactic with a trade-off

Balanced uses a mix of shooting, passing and creativity. Counter gives pace more weight and can benefit against an aggressive opponent. Aggressive increases attacking emphasis while also giving the opponent more opportunity. These effects interact with the squad and formation; no tactic guarantees the result.

Bid with a stopping point

Decide what you can afford before a bidding fight. If one manager already has a goalkeeper, that manager stops competing for the next goalkeeper. Watch who still needs the position, not just who has the most credits. In Blind, use football knowledge and positional roles to judge a purchase; the hidden individual ratings stay hidden after the final.

Before your first game

Can I play on my own?

The live game needs at least two human managers. There is no solo opponent or public matchmaking. You can read the rules and use the budget exercise on this page without a room code.

Are credits real money?

No. Everyone starts with 100 fictional credits. You cannot buy more, cash them out or win a monetary prize. Player names identify cards in the game; no footballer is actually being bought or sold.

Which pool should we choose?

Choose a competition your group knows. Classic makes the ratings visible, which helps new players compare cards. All-time includes retired players. Current league pools use the roster data maintained for that competition; they are not a live transfer feed. Report a roster correction to contact@footbauction.com with the player, competition and relevant source.

What if I lose my connection?

Reopen the game in the same browser to attempt to reconnect. Do not clear site storage if you want to keep that session. Choosing to leave a match ends your control of the team. An inactive room eventually closes, so a code is not a permanent saved game.